About UsErin Harpe grew up in Greenbelt, Maryland. She graduated Eleanor Roosevelt High School, before studying anthropology at Earlham College.
Harpe's father, Neil, is a blues musician who played in a band called Franklin Harpe and Usilton. Although his daughter grew up with music around her, she did not pick up an instrument until fourth grade, when she opted to play the flute. She played that for about ten years, before a young love interest, who knew all of the lyrics to "Alice's Restaurant," turned her head to the guitar. “I ran home and said, ‘Dad, you’ve got to teach me how to play it.’ After that, I was hooked. I could pick it up really easily, so I said, ‘Screw the flute’ and learned finger-picking blues guitar.” Harpe started to play at folk festivals and coffeehouses in her 20s. She later moved to Boston and met bass player Jim Countryman, whom she married in 1999. Harpe has stated "he’s my partner (as an artist) and my manager. I’m the artistic director, visual and musical.” Together, they formed the electro-funk dance band Lovewhip in 1998, releasing four studio albums and one live set, winning a Boston Music Award in 2004 for "World Music Act of the Year". Harpe released her debut solo album Blues Roots in 2002. It was a set of covers by artists such as Memphis Minnie (Harpe's main influence), Bessie Smith and Tommy Johnson. Six years later she released Delta Blues Duets, which included duets recorded with her father. A second solo album, Meet Me in the Middle, was released on October 30, 2020. A single and the first track on the album, "All Night Long", was released the previous month. |
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